I used to completely reset my Oblivion installation every 18 months or so, and research and download a complete set of latest mod updates to rebuild with the best that was around at the time. You could pour time into nothing but mod configuration doing that!

DayZ is pretty wild. I watched a guy get jacked by bandits, another guy run up to help and only get shot at and bait the zombies. After he ran away along with bandits I hid in a nearby house by the first guy's body. When the bandits returned I opened up on them from a window. They never saw it coming.

Unless I play with RL friends, I'm not teaming up with anyone in DayZ. I won't be a bandit but I will kill them on sight given a good opportunity. Otherwise I'll be in ninja mode.

Jerykk wrote on May 20, 2012, 22:35:I really wish you could enter all buildings. Right now I don't even bothering entering a town unless I see barns, sheds or warehouses. If every building was enterable, there would be actual incentive to explore every town instead of just bypassing them.

Arma II ftw! That's awesome. I am having tremendous fun with DayZ. I've been waiting for a game like this forever. Only alpha, and this game has so much potential! No instanced bullshit, a persistent 24/7 sandbox. I love it! The PvP is cool but needs some tweaking imo. I paid 30 bucks through steam but I've already logged 30+ hours over the weekend. I haven't even touched D3 since installing this last Wednesday. This game owns me for now.

spindoctor wrote on May 20, 2012, 18:28:But yea, it is a pure sandbox where you have to find your entertainment by yourself... there are no guiding gameplay systems for that yet. So only you can decide on how much replayability you can assign to a game like that.

For a 3 year old game it sure runs terribly on my 3 year old system (which was semi-decent at the time), lol. Sad, but I think I'll upgrade just for this mod (and to be ready for Arma 3, which I now want since being turned on to Arma 2, which I bought specifically for this mod).

Creston wrote on May 20, 2012, 16:49:Does anyone know of a GOOD level slowing mod?

I am a little behind with the mod scene too, but I would think that a level rate mod is probably pretty hard to do wrong. The Well Rested perk when you sleep in a decent bed already modifies your global skill gain rate, so there is a direct handle on the overall skill rate this time round which runs no risk of adjusting some skills more than others. I would suggest that the construction set could easily be used to add such a skill rate adjustment to either the enchantments that stones give you, or perhaps the racial abilities, or perhaps just a permanent enchantment that kicks in the first time you load up with the mod.

Given that someone always wants a skill rate adjustment mod, I would anticipate that someone's already done exactly this and that the complexity is roughly on par with a "hello world" mod. If it doesn't exist you could probably slap one together quickly or I could probably have a crack at doing the same. I am no pro modder but I did make some simple gameplay adjustments in Morrowind and Oblivion to tune the games to my taste.

Edit: oh and browsing mods for two days and not actually getting around to loading up the game is a proud Elder Scrolls tradition!

I'm pretty ecstatic about DayZ. I've been saying for years I wanted a zombie apocalypse game, focused on scavenging, repairing, barricading, etc and someone finally came through with most of it. Still very rough around the edges, but what this does more is 1) establishes a proof of concept and 2) promotes the idea to other game developers for future projects.

Can't wait to see what comes out in another 3-4 years. You might as well jam an IV into my arm and sit me on a toilet.

I came across some guy who was AFK on the shore outside of Tulga and I went on my way after looking at him for a bit... same guy showed up in Tulga 10 minutes later and shot me in the back about 7 times as I was crawling around trying to not aggro the zeds

@PHJFDayZ runs on a real-time day/night and lunar cycle. Full moon should be back June 4th.

Or you could play on a UTC+4 server if you want daytime around the clock.

I really wish you could enter all buildings. Right now I don't even bothering entering a town unless I see barns, sheds or warehouses. If every building was enterable, there would be actual incentive to explore every town instead of just bypassing them.

I came across some guy who was AFK on the shore outside of Tulga and I went on my way after looking at him for a bit... same guy showed up in Tulga 10 minutes later and shot me in the back about 7 times as I was crawling around trying to not aggro the zeds

@PHJFDayZ runs on a real-time day/night and lunar cycle. Full moon should be back June 4th.

Or you could play on a UTC+4 server if you want daytime around the clock.

Seriously though. Anyone familiar with OFP and how the ArmA series turned out know that every copy of ArmA that has ever sold was due to modding. ArmA has none of the sp goodness that OFP had. It's one instance I can think of when a publisher was good for a series. Whoever was the producer on the Codemasters end was clearly responsible for OFP's SP campaigns. The ArmA series prooves BIS have no SP campaign abilities, whatsoever.

It's funny seeing people buy into ArmA now when these survival style mods have existed for years. And so many put us down on boards like these and others, not understanding why many of us could overlook the flaws present in the engine to buy and play such a quirky title. It was true sandbox gameplay long before GTA.

MadBoris wrote on May 20, 2012, 16:33:Does the environment feel as cool as Stalker?How is the longevity/replayability, does draw you back in?

The environment and atmosphere has it's own unique feel. It's not exactly like Stalker but there are certainly some similarities. Apart from the zombies, the fact that it's multiplayer and the game's concepts of permadeath and persistent characters adds a level of tension that you can't really replicate in a single player game. It's important to understand that, much like the Walking Dead, the zombies only provide a backdrop to the core experience of Dayz, which is the human interaction between players. When you see someone, do you shoot first? Do you form an alliance to co-op? If so, will you get a bullet in the head the moment your back is turned? If not, how long will your alliance last before you inevitably have to break it for some reason or the other? There's a lot of human behavioral traits that come through in the game, which is really the best part of it.

As for replayability, that's a tricky question. The mod is still in it's alpha stage so there's not much to do other than simply survive. There are no goals that you have to achieve. The first few times you play it, you'll definitely feel a sense of excitement and challenge in just managing that, but it will slowly start to taper away. That's not to say that it becomes boring or anything... every time you play the game, you will walk away with a unique experience and a story to tell. But yea, it is a pure sandbox where you have to find your entertainment by yourself... there are no guiding gameplay systems for that yet. So only you can decide on how much replayability you can assign to a game like that.

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